Culture of Kolkata

Kolkata has also been the pioneer city in Indian renaissance. It has long been known for its literary, artistic and revolutionary heritage. As the former capital of India, not only Kolkata, but Bengal was the birthplace of modern Indian literary, artistic and scholastic thought. Bengalees tend to have a special appreciation for art and literature; its tradition of welcoming new talent has made it a "city of furious creative energy".[1]

Paras in Kolkata signify a neighbourhood with a strong sense of community, and are usually sharply defined on the basis of loyalties (like which households contribute economically to which public or "barowari" puja). Paras culture typically segregate Kolkata communities on the basis of origin (West Bengal origin "ghotis" versus East Bengal origin "bangals" – there are paras which have names like "prothom bangal para" (first bangal para)), occupation and socio-economic status (paras have names like "kumorpara" (potter para)), and sometimes even politics and religion.

Typically, every para has its own community club, with a club room ("club ghar"), and often a playing field. People of a para habitually indulge in adda or leisurely chat in "rock"s or "rowacks" (porches) and teashops in the evenings after work. North Kolkata paras typically have more street life at late nights with respect to South Kolkata paras. Sports (cricket, football, badminton) and indoor games (carrom) tournaments are regularly organised on an inter-para basis.

The para culture is fast waning, for good or bad, with the rise of apartment complexes, and the rise of the cosmopolitan nature of Kolkata.

An adda involves an informal discussion usually involving friends talking over a bhaar (cup) of tea on current issues. An adda may be viewed as a form of intellectual exchange among members of the same socio-economic strata. It is most popular among the youths belonging to the so-called "middle-class intelligentsia".

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Graffiti was used not for vandalism, or counterculture art, but mainly for political propaganda. Walls were "captured" for fixed numbers of years, and graffiti over-painting was tantamount to political transgression. Generations of political graffiti artists have been at work on Kolkata's walls, producing slander, witty banter and limericks, caricatures and propaganda. However, such acts being clear cases of defacing private property, the Calcutta High Court ruled to ban political graffiti from private properties without express consent of the property owner. Graffiti lives on in "club" walls, unclaimed property walls, and the occasional flouting of the order. Graffiti artists have become a part of Kolktata's heritage. Many house owners now welcome them to paint on their walls so that these are not captured by political parties. Social messages like AIDS awareness, environmental issues etc., are now getting more popularity.

Calcuttans are aggressive commuters, but with a sense of humour. The local and suburban rails and buses, as well as the underground Kolkata Metro railway are usually packed during office hours. The practice of "reserving" public seats by daily passengers is widespread. Share taxis are a common occurrence for travel to and from railway stations and such. The practice of car pools is also growing after the construction of the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass and the emergence of the CBD in Bidhan Nagar.

Another phenomenon of Kolkata traffic is the Auto-rikshaws. Auto-rikshaws or autos as they are acronymed are small contraptions on the roads. They have three wheels, and are extremely agile. The regulation is three passengers at back, one in front along with the driver. This regulation is disregarded with impunity and often six or more people get in. Autos ply on fixed routes and the fare ranges from Rs.4 to Rs.15, depending on the distance covered.

While Mumbai is the capital of commercial cinemas in India, Kolkata is the house of art-films. Stalwarts like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen are the pride of Kolkata. The biggest event of Indian cinema was the release of Pather Panchali in 1955 made by Satyajit Ray based on a novel of Bibhutibhusan Banerjee. This film connected Indian film to the rest of the world. The movie was acclaimed throughout the world specially in the Western world as a symbol of undying human spirit. Presently, Aparna Sen, Budhdhadeb Dasgupta, Gautam Ghose, Rituparno Ghosh are bearing the mantle of the great tradition. Kolkata Film Festival, held annually across several cinema theatres in the city serves to the taste of Kolkata people for cinema from all over the world. Nandan is a popular cinema complex in the premiers of Rabindra Sadan, maintained by the state government. This theatre complex holds regular shows of national and international cinema.

In 1897, films were shown for the first time in Calcutta. Couple of years later, Hiralal Sen from north Calcutta started making films at the Classic Theatres. In 1901, Hiralal Sen set up Royal Bioscope, produced scenes and dance sequences from popular Bengali plays. The first Bengali movie was "Billwamangal" in 1919 which happened to be a silent movie. The first Bengali talkie, Dena Paona was released in 1931, directed by Premankur Atarthi and produced by New Theatres. The first popular hero in Bengali film was probably Pramathesh Barua, who was a director himself too.

The commercial Bengali cinema industry, known as "Tollywood", is based in Tollygunge locality of the city. Several film studios are located here. Though the popularity of the commercial Bengali cinemas has dwindled in the urban area, they continue to be popular in the rural West Bengal. The golden age of commercial Bengali cinema is said to be 1950–1970 and involved actors such as Uttam Kumar, Soumitra Chatterjee, Utpal Dutta, Suchitra Sen, Chobi Biswas, Sabitri Chottopadhya, Pahari Sanyal, Bikash Roy. Suchitra Sen received best actress award in Moscow Film Festival for her role in Saat Paake Badha co-starring Soumitra Chatterjee.

The Calcutta Book Fair is an annual fair showcasing books published by the regional, national and international publishers. Started in 1976, the book fair projects every year a particular country as the theme of the year. There is a separate area dedicated for the little magazines.

The city has a long tradition of commercial theatres and group theatres. As opposed to commercial theatres, group theatres usually do not have any profit making agenda. Group theatre activists use the proscenium stage to portray some social message.[3][4] The commercial theatres of the city, however, has been declining in popularity since the 1980s, and only a handful of commercial theatre productions are made, as of 2009.[3][5]

Key elements of Kolkata's cuisine include rice and macher jhol (fish curry), with 'chutney' or 'mishti doi' as dessert. Bengal's vast repertoire of fish-based dishes include various eelish(hilsa) preparations (a favourite among Bengalis) like eelish shorshe bata, eelish bhap and eelish-er paturi . Street foods like rolls (mutton roll, egg roll, chicken roll, and sometimes in the Park Circus region – beef roll) and phuchka are very popular. Phuchka (called golgappa in North India, and panipuri in West India) is a deep-fried whole-wheat hollow crispy ball which is filled with spicy potato filling and spicy, herbed tamarind water when serving. Common accompaniments to Phuchka are things dishes like Churmur, Ghugni. A Bengali meal is incomplete without sweets. Popular sweets include Roshogolla, mishti doi (sweet curd), langcha, Kheerkadam, sandesh, rajbhog, Kamalabhog, etc.

One common feature of Kolkata cuisine today originates from Tibetan regions – momo and thuppa. The Elgin Road offshoots have a lot of outlets specialising in the delicious steamed dumplings (pork, chicken, vegetarian) called momos – typically served with a clear stalk soup and often served with spicy chutneys. Thuppa is a common accompaniment – a clear soup with noodles, vegetables and other herbs. Due to the high popularity, momos are now available all over the city, and are even served as street food at some places.

The people of Kolkata are famous for being sports lovers. Cricket and football can easily be called the life blood of the city. The home town of Eden Gardens (headquarters of CAB), the city can boast of an impartial crowd of cricket lovers who cheer for good cricket even when their side is losing. Over a football match between archrivals Mohun bagan and East Bengal, the city can get divided. Traditionally, prices of fish soar and drop based on the performances of these two football teams. If Mohun Bagan wins, fans eat prawn to celebrate, whereas hilsa (ilish) is eaten to celebrate an East Bengal victory. Sourav Ganguly, former captain of the Indian Cricket team is from Kolkata.

Kolkata is a city of exhibitions and fairs. The International History & Heritage Exhibition organised by Sabarna Sangrahashala every year in the month of February is an important event where the rich cultural heritage of the land is reflected.[16] Apart from the history and heritage of India, the exhibition through displays of rarest artifacts and documents portrays the history, traditions and culture of other nations too. The exhibition attracts visitors from all over the world.[17]

The males usually wear western garments like pants and shirts, rather than the traditional dhoti and kurtas. Females are usually seen in the traditional Sarees and Salwar-Kameezs. Females are also gradually taking up more and more Western-wear, with jeans and skirts predominating in the college campuses, as well as in the streets. English is becoming more and more popular as a conversational language for the teenagers.